Anner Media, the TV company controlled by former DJ Andy Ruane, has gone into receivership after the executors of the late Donal Geaney's will called in a debenture. A debenture usually refers to a loan raised by a company, paying a fixed rate of interest and secured on the assets of a company.
Companies Office documents show the appointment of receiver George Maloney of Baker Tilly O'Hare, became effective on Monday. Notice of the receivership was posted in the press on Tuesday.
Mr Ruane is best known as the creator of The Lyrics Board music game show, which has been sold around the world.
Notice of the receivership shows that Mr Maloney was appointed by Anne Geaney, James Skehan and Mark Pearson in their capacity as executors of the will of Mr Geaney, the former chairman and chief executive of Elan and chairman of the National Pensions Reserve Fund.
Mr Geaney died last October. The debenture was created in August 2004. Under its terms, Anner granted Mr Geaney a charge over its premises, including the 35-year lease it held on its building in Dublin's Mount Street. The debenture also gave Mr Geaney a charge over the share capital of Anner Inc, a company registered in Delaware in the US. Anner Inc is, according to Companies Office documents, a subsidiary of Anner Media.
A charge was also created over Anner Media's "contracts, agreements and licences". Anner Media, previously called Anner (International) Post Production, was incorporated in 1998. It has two listed directors: Andrew Coffey, Mr Ruane's real name, and Peter Coffey. Attempts to contact Mr Ruane and Mr Coffey were unsuccessful yesterday.
The Lyrics Board is produced by Like It Love It Productions, another Andy Ruane company.
The most recent available accounts for Anner Media show that in the year to March 2005, it had net liabilities of €2.4 million. This compared to net liabilities of €1.2 million in the previous year. Like It Love It had net assets of €327,033 at the end of March last year, down from €472,781.
Anner has been involved in a number of ambitious television ventures, including an Irish-American television channel and Ireland Live, a news channel that broadcast via the internet. The service is no longer available.
